The present invention relates to the field of mail handling, and it relates more particularly to a mail-handling machine equipped with an improved device for closing envelope flaps.
Conventionally, envelope flaps are closed in a mail-handling machine by means of the pressure exerted by the engagement means at the inlet of the postage metering or xe2x80x9cfrankingxe2x80x9d module, the flaps having been previously moistened by a moistener in a feed module for feeding mail items into the machine, which module is disposed immediately upstream from the franking module.
Unfortunately, the simplicity of that envelope flap closure system gives rise to numerous drawbacks. In particular, it has been observed that even though that system does indeed close the envelope, said envelope can be sealed incorrectly, because the previously-moistened flap can be folded abnormally or even torn in part. FIGS. 3 to 5 show, in order of increasing importance, examples of defects encountered in practice (such defects generally being accentuated with increasing thickness of the envelope). In FIG. 3, the flap 10 has portions 12, 14 that are not fully closed at its top corners, or portions 16 that are not fully stuck down. That defect is accentuated in FIG. 4, in which the flap can show traces of impacts 18 from the engagement means, and the portion of the flap in one of the top corners can be rucked up and open so that a portion of the document 20 is apparent. In extreme cases, as shown in FIG. 5, if the flap is too widely open, the contact with the engagement means causes it to be crushed and a slanting fold 22 might form, causing a gummed zone 24 of the flap to be apparent and creating an adhesion zone 26 in which the flap adheres to the document contained in the envelope, which is a particularly critical defect.
Naturally, such distortion of the envelope disturbs its longitudinal alignment or xe2x80x9cjoggingxe2x80x9d along the conveyor path, which can also give rise to defects in the printing of the postage imprint which is then not printed exactly horizontally (for example, a horizontal line then appears as a wavy line).
Unfortunately, the consequences of such defects in sealing envelopes are considerable insofar as a damaged envelope whose postage imprint is distorted might be rejected by the postal authority.
An object of the present invention is to mitigate those envelope sealing defects by proposing a mail-handling machine equipped with a device that facilitates closure of envelope flaps, and that is both simple and reliable. Another object of the invention is to propose a device that can be adapted to fit existing mail-handling machines, without requiring any complex structural modification.
These objects are achieved by a mail-handling machine comprising at least firstly a postage-metering or xe2x80x9cfrankingxe2x80x9d module comprising at least print means for printing a postage imprint on a mail item and conveyor means for conveying said mail item along a mail item conveyor path defined by top and bottom guide plates, which conveyor means comprise at least mail item engagement means including bottom means mounted to move vertically, which engagement means are disposed at the inlet of the franking module, and secondly a mail item feed module disposed immediately upstream from the franking module and comprising at least conveyor means for conveying the mail items, and a moistener device, said mail-handling machine further comprising support means for supporting the mail items as they move between the feed module and the franking module, which support means are suitable for being moved in a manner synchronized with the vertical movement of the bottom engagement means.
The presence of the support means makes it possible to guide the envelope continuously while advantageously starting to close its flap which, without the deflector, would tend to open merely by gravity. In addition, impacts with the engagement means such as a roller or a belt are almost eliminated because the support means move with the bottom engagement means.
In a preferred embodiment, said support means are constituted by a deflector hinged via one of its longitudinal edges to a body or base of the franking module, the other of its two longitudinal edges resting on the bottom guide plate of the mail item conveyor path in the franking module. Advantageously, the deflector which is disposed transversely to the mail item conveyor path is clipped to a hinge pin on the body of the franking module.
In a second embodiment, the support means are constituted by a deflector hinged via one of its longitudinal edges to a body of the feed module, the other one of its two longitudinal edges resting on the bottom guide plate of the mail item conveyor path at the inlet of the franking module. Preferably, the deflector is mounted on a front edge of the moistener device.
The invention also provides a franking module for a mail-handling machine, said franking module comprising print means for printing a postage imprint on a mail item and conveyor means for conveying said mail item along a mail item conveyor path defined by top and bottom guide plates, which conveyor means comprise at least mail item engagement means including bottom means mounted to move vertically, which engagement means are disposed at the inlet of the franking module, said franking module further comprising support means for supporting the mail items at the inlet of the franking module, which support means are suitable for being moved in a manner synchronized with the vertical movement of the bottom engagement means.
Advantageously, the support means are constituted by a deflector hinged via one of its longitudinal edges to a body or base of the franking module, the other of its two longitudinal edges resting on the bottom guide plate of the mail item conveyor path. The deflector which is disposed transversely to the mail item conveyor path is clipped to a hinge pin on the body of the franking module.